First Looks category archive

Another “responsible gun owner.

Another portable phallus left lying about.

Another child.

Authorities say a toddler received a minor cut on his lip after a gun fell from a clothes pile and accidentally discharged at a residence in Baldwin County late Sunday.

At the Austin American-Statesman, James Kallison is distressed at efforts in Texas to replace public education with public indoctrination, observing that

Whether the issue is slavery, LGBTQ history, or the role of religion in public education, the state’s responsibility is to ensure students learn history as accurately and completely as possible — not as political leaders wish it had been.

I commend his article to your attention, as Texas is not alone in wanting to use public funds to promote public ignorance.

They get fiendlier every day.

At the Psychology Today website, Taylor Neff points out that “(s)ocial media is a prominent source of mental health misinformation*.

Follow the link for some pointers to protect yourself from the prevaricators.

And remember, “social” media isn’t.

Sometimes, justice can indeed be poetic.

Off to drink liberally.

A con artist’s best friend? From El Reg:

Aviva (a UK insurance company–ed.) and its wider brand portfolio received an estimated 18,400 plus fraudulent claims in 2025, backed by doctored evidence includeding AI-generated car accident scenes, fake official documents, and fabricated images exaggerating damage.

If approved, the sum of these claims would have amounted to £233 million ($310.3 million) across the year, or roughly £638,000 ($850,000) per day.

Fun fact from the Las Vegas Sun:

After one of the warmest, driest winters on record and a historically arid quarter-century, the (Colorado–ed.) river’s two biggest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, are at 29.5% and 23.5%, respectively, of their capacities.

How about some sauce for the gander?

Via Job’s Anger.

Via Job’s Anger.

According to my old Philly DL friend Noz, that’s something that the American Stasi seems to have forgotten (if they ever cared in the first place).

Off to drink liberally.

Things to do.

Methinks Atrios makes a good point.

Even if it’s called “social” media, there’s nothing particularly “social” about jumping up and down while shouting “Look at me! Look at me! Look at me!” all the time.

The Professionals.

The best way I can describe it is to say it’s sort of a Britinh Man from U.N.C.L.E.

You should be able to find it streaming somewhere.

Off to drink liberally.

I’ve added a new link to the OTR category on the sidebar: Radio Echoes.

The dialog: Two fifty.

The closed caption: Two each day.